1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for predicting the propensity of any individual for exhibiting explosive behavior by obtaining and processing electroencephalographic information and applying that data to an algorithm to compute the probability of explosive behavior.
2. Background
With each violent outburst by an adolescent in our society, the pressing need for early identification of children who exhibit explosive, aggressive, uncontrollable outbursts becomes more critical. The high incidence of this behavior disorder during elementary school years and the evidence that such disorders may be precursors of adult sociopathy and psychopathology makes it important that these children be identified and properly treated.
In the past, explosive behavior in children and adolescents was often times treated as a symptom of some other behavior or mood disorder, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which is defined in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, as "a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequent and severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparative level of development, which clearly interferes with developmentally appropriate social, academic or occupational functioning". In other cases, it is associated as a symptom of a mood disorder, such as a major depressive disorder or bipolar I or II disorders. Explosive behavior is not generally considered as an independent disorder of its own right.
Yet, at the same time it is known that psychotherapy is not an effective method of treatment for explosive behavior.
A considerable amount of research has been undertaken in the prior art to learn more about the biological basis for what are commonly called genetic-environmental interactions which occur because of environmental effects. It is also generally believed, and the evidence supports, a correlation between a high incidence of explosive behavior during elementary school years and adult sociopathy and psychopathology.
While it is known that explosive behavior frequently has an organic or biological component, its exact etiology can be due to various neurological substrates. Prior art studies of prison inmates have found that over half had abnormal electroencephalograms and that a significant majority of these abnormalities involve the temporal lobes.
It is also known that the use of certain types of medications, including anti-convulsant medications, can result in significant and effective control of explosive behavior symptoms and the use of other types of medications, such as stimulants and antidepressants will aggravate the symptoms of explosive behavior.
Accordingly, what is needed is a means of identifying children and adolescents who have the biological predisposition toward explosive behavior, either before the explosive behavior manifests itself, or at the very least, where some explosive behavior is already manifesting, but to an insufficient degree to rely on the diagnosis of the behavior as being present.